Party of five- our first month

 Tomorrow Colby is one month old!  So tomorrow I will post all about him and his wonderful self.  But as this first month comes to a close, today I'm thinking about the 5 of us and what the month has meant to us as a whole.

As a summary of our first month, I will say we really don't have a routine yet (which stresses me out a little), but day-by-day it works.  And for the most part, the days are good.  Anderson and Brady both seem to really love their brother, and they are very sweet with him.  It's especially cute to watch Brady make a conscious effort to be gentle with the baby, because it does take a little effort!  Neither one seems jealous, which is a huge relief.

Anderson has been smitten from the start. (This is from the day we brought Colby home)

Brady approaching Colby during my little photo shoot with him today...

And joining right in. :)

I feel guilty because we aren't able to go do as much as I'd like {I tried to take the 3 boys to the library by myself yesterday.  The first 20+ minutes were great.  Then when it was time to leave, Brady had his first ever HUGE tantrum and I could barely physically get us out of there.  Because I wasn't prepared- no stroller for one thing.  It was awful.  That's all I can say about it just yet...}, but I'm starting to realize that no one (but me) is keeping score of our daily activities.  If everyone's happy- or at least fed and mainly safe- it's a good day.  And Brady is awesome at playing with toys and entertaining himself, so he enjoys a lot of time at home.  Anderson likes to be more interactive when it comes to playing- drawing together, playing baseball, board games, etc., but we're finding ways to keep him entertained and more or less out of mischief, too.

The Easter bunny brought Anderson some washable paint (and a smock!) , which he has really liked.

The big boys are playing together more than ever, too.  This involves a lot of "chase" around the house, and especially recently, A LOT of wrestling.  I ask (tell/ shout sometimes) that they wrestle in a room where I can see them and that they don't pull or push each other's heads... seem like reasonable rules to me.  They just need to be reminded a lot!  Lots of giggling and a little crying, and then they're both back for more.  So we go with it.

Sometimes they're really sweet together.  Instead of chasing, they were walking/ running around the house holding hands earlier this week, and Anderson was telling Brady something to the effect of, "You're a big boy, and I'm the biggest brother of all.  I'm like a giant." Ha :)  Also, while they were both at the table coloring a couple of weeks ago, I heard this: (quote)

A- "Great job, Brady!  You found a color! What color did you find?"
B- "Pink!  I love pink!"
A- "And I love black.  Black starts with a letter 'b', just like blue starts with a letter 'b'."
B- "I love blue!"

And today we got home from lunch with Grandma with a hungry, tired Colby.  So while I fed him in the loft, the boys ran around in and out of Anderson's room while I spouted off warnings about fingers and doors.  And then, thank goodness, Anderson decided it was story time.  Brady took a little convincing (but I think he often loves attention from Anderson, even if he can play hard to get.)  Instead of just one picture of the two boys being super cute and reading together, this series of pictures tells the real story...

Finally settled in...

On to their second book...

Let me also say that we have the best support system ever- 4 grandparents who love spending time with the boys plus aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who have kept us company and brought a lot of joy to our days.  So the big boys have gotten to do fun things throughout the month- and Colby and I have gotten to join in some, too.  Of course they both love and look forward to 'Mondays at Montpelier' with Grandma and Grandpa.  And Nannie and Papa took the big boys to Bass Pro Shop to eat and look at fish and play on boats, followed by frozen yogurt, a couple of weeks ago.  A couple of days later, I brought all 3 boys to the mall to meet up with Nannie and Papa who had the twins (my niece and nephew) for a few days.  We went to a temporary petting zoo and then the kids got to eat and play at the food court.  We've had lots of friends from church bring meals- and just getting a few minutes to talk with the mommies dropping the food off has been as big of a blessing as the yummy meals. Lauren and Kyle came down to visit and meet Colby that first weekend.  Always a treat to see them!

Steven, Kelly, and the girls brought dinner and stayed to play one night, and Katie and Aila met us 4 at the park behind our house for a play date this past Saturday.

I love time with just the three boys, or especially when it's the five of us, and I have really enjoyed the quiet days at home.  But time with our people has been much needed and much appreciated, too.

I know that this time in our lives will be too fast.  Soon we won't be anchored at home most of the day- we'll be running around like crazy and I'll miss these sweet, slow days so much.  So in the meantime I'm trying to soak in the sweet, the funny, the frustrating, the boring, the messes, the snuggles- all of it- for as long as I can.